Goal oriented travel planning system

ABSTRACT

A travel system for processing travel requests based on a user&#39;s travel destination goal such as a meeting place and time. The travel system selects a destination terminal, if one is not provided, and estimates a travel time between the destination terminal and the destination goal. An itinerary is then built interactively with the user selecting air, bus or train transportation, ground transportation, and, optionally, hotels, restaurants, and activities.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application claims priority from U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 10/141,935, (the '935 application”), which was filed on May 10,2002 and published on Oct. 24, 2002 under Publication No. 20020156661.The '935 application, in turn, claims priority from U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/141,264, which was filed on Aug. 27, 1998.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention generally relates to travel processing systems and, moreparticularly, to a system for receiving a traveler's travel goals anddetermining possible travel options by searching a travel database.

2. Description of the Related Art

Computer systems for arranging airline travel are commonly used.Existing reservation systems allow a traveler or user to select the daysthat they wish to travel and their origination and destination sites.Based on these selections, the system tells the user both the faresavailable and the companies offering the fares.

These existing systems require the traveler to guess at what time theyneed to arrive at the destination airport to reach their finaldestination, such as the location of a meeting, on time. The travelermust determine the time required to travel from the airport to the finaldestination site and research what types of ground transportation areavailable at the destination airport. The traveler must then researchwhich hotels, restaurants, and other activities are close to their finaldestination point of interest and make separate reservations.

Based on the above limitations of existing systems, it is desirable toimprove travel processing systems to provide greater assistance to thetraveler.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Systems and methods consistent with the present invention includestructure and acts for processing travel requests based on a user'stravel destination goal. That is, the user inputs a travel goal (e.g.,the time and location of a meeting) and the system automaticallygenerates a travel itinerary, including flight information, hotelinformation, and ground transportation such as rental cars, to ensurethat the user accomplishes their travel goal (e.g., arrives at themeeting on time).

In accordance with systems and methods consistent with the presentinvention, a traveler's itinerary is generated interactively with a userby selecting flights, hotels, transportation, and other activities. Togenerate such an itinerary, the user first inputs a goal, like a meetingplace and time. The travel system selects a destination airport, if oneis not provided, and estimates a travel time between the destinationairport and the destination goal. The travel system determinesrecommended flights and ground transportation to the user by searching atravel database having data on both and then displays therecommendations to the user. Similarly, restaurant and activityinformation may also be found in the database, and as such, appropriaterecommendations may be displayed to the user based on user-designatedconstraints or default constraints.

In one embodiment of the present invention, systems and methods areprovided for processing travel requests including structure or steps forreceiving a user's travel goal specifying a destination location and anappointment time and determining a time of arrival necessary at adestination airport sufficient to ensure that the user arrives at thedestination location at the appointment time.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and,together with the description, serve to explain the objects, advantages,and principles of the invention.

In the drawings,

FIG. 1 depicts a data processing system suitable for use by systems andmethods consistent with the present invention;

FIG. 2 a depicts a flow chart of the steps performed by the travelsystem consistent with the present invention;

FIG. 2 b depicts a sample screen display for entering travel parametersconsistent with the present invention;

FIG. 3 a depicts a flow chart of the steps performed when selectingflights consistent with the present invention;

FIG. 3 b depicts a sample screen display showing a map and availableflights consistent with the present invention;

FIG. 3 c depicts a sample screen display showing the interior of a planefor the user to select a seat consistent with the present invention;

FIG. 4 a depicts a flow chart of the steps performed when selectinghotels consistent with the present invention;

FIG. 4 b depicts a sample screen display showing a map with a hotellocation and other information about the hotel consistent with thepresent invention;

FIGS. 5 a and 5 c depict flow charts of the steps for selecting groundtransportation consistent with the present invention;

FIG. 5 b depicts a sample screen display showing ground transportationinformation consistent with the present invention;

FIG. 6 a depicts a flow chart of the steps for selecting restaurants andactivities consistent with the present invention;

FIG. 6 b depicts a sample screen display showing restaurantrecommendations consistent with the present invention;

FIG. 7 depicts a flow chart of the steps for reviewing and approving anitinerary consistent with the present invention;

FIG. 8 a depicts a flow chart of the steps for relaxing constraintsconsistent with the present invention;

FIG. 8 b depicts a sample screen display showing an itinerary andcriteria the user may adjust;

FIG. 8 c depicts a sample screen display of additional criteria the usermay designate as flexible consistent with the present invention; and

FIG. 8 d depicts a sample screen display of an original itinerary and areviewed itinerary based on relaxed constraints.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to the construction and operationof implementations consistent with the present invention illustrated inthe accompanying drawings. In those drawings, like elements andoperations are designated with the same reference numerals wherepossible.

Systems consistent with the present invention provide a travel systemthat generates a user's travel itinerary based on the user's travelgoal. In one implementation, the travel itinerary includes airtransportation; however in other implementations the itinerary includesa different type of transportation service where a third party providesscheduled transportation to consumers using a facility that carriesconsumers in groups, such as a train or bus. The travel system generatesthe itinerary interactively with a user by selecting, in one case,flights, hotels, ground transportation, restaurants, events, and otheractivities. A user need only input a goal, including a destination andrequired time to be at that destination, and based on this goalinformation, the travel system presents the user with alternatives thatallow the user to meet these criteria. Other convenient information ispresented to the user that is specifically tailored to the users' travelplans, including hotels, restaurants, and activities in the vicinity ofthe users travel goal.

In using the travel system, the user initially inputs the destinationtime and site and an origination site. The travel system then estimatesthe time necessary to arrive at a destination airport to reach thedestination site at the designated time. After making the estimate, thetravel system sends display data to a display located at the user's sitefor displaying travel options, including potential departure and arrivalflights, hotels, restaurants and activities.

A goal can include multiple stops in one location at different times,multiple cities, multiple meetings in multiple cities, non-round triptravel, and round trip travel. The processing of a goal that requiresseveral different stops in different locations is performed in steps.For example, if a user wishes to travel from New York to San Franciscoto Seattle, the travel from New York to San Francisco is processed firstand then travel from San Francisco to Seattle is processed as discussedbelow. For clarity the only type of goals used in the examples below arebetween a single origination to a single destination. The system mayeasily be altered to process many different goal combinations.

FIG. 1 depicts a data processing system 50 for use with systems andmethods consistent with the present invention, although other systemconfigurations are contemplated. The data processing system 50 comprisesa user computer 100 connected to travel computer 120 via a communicationlink 150, such as a direct network link, a modem, or the Internet. Thetravel computer 120 is connected to a computerized reservation system(CRS) 130 via communication link 160. Both the travel computer 120 andCRS 130 have access to a travel database 140.

Travel database 140 represents a plurality of databases containing manydifferent types of data including, for example, flight information,hotel information, ground transportation information, activityinformation, airport information, map information, and travel distanceand time information. Travel database 140 may be maintained by travelcomputer 120 or CRS 130. Travel database 140 may be a virtual database,including data from multiple sources, for example, servers on the worldwide web.

The user computer 100 has a central processing unit (CPU) 102, a memory104, an input device 105, and a display 106. The memory 104 contains apresentation program 108 that displays various screens to the user viathe display 106, receives input from the user, and sends this input tothe travel computer 120. Available applications suitable for thesepurposes include Internet browsers such as the Netscape Navigator.

Travel computer 120 includes an input device 109, display 113, a CPU110, and a memory 112. The memory 112 includes the travel system 114 ofan exemplary implementation. The travel system 114 processes travelrequests from the presentation programs on user computers and storesinformation about travel options. The travel system 114 includes an airtransportation subsystem (ATS) 116 that selects flights or flights andprices, a hotel subsystem (HS) 118 that selects a hotel, an activity andrestaurant subsystem (ARS) 122 that identifies restaurants andactivities in the vicinity of the hotel or the destination site, aground transportation subsystem (GTS) 124 that selects suitable groundtransportation, a constraint relaxation subsystem (CR) 126 for relaxingsearch constraints, and a reservation confirmation system (RCS) 128 thatverifies the travel selections and confirms any reservations.

CRS 130 is an existing transportation standard system that maintainsinformation in a travel database 140 that relates to travel flight timesand fares for each of the different airlines among other flightinformation. Reservations are made through CRS 130. CRS 130 managesflight reservation information based on each user's desiredorigination-to-destination journey. CRS 130 generally arranges,organizes, and stores this data in a format generally corresponding tothe dominant travel routing patterns, in which a carrier accepts apassenger at a first, origination location and discharges the passengerat a terminal or destination location.

Booking a flight through CRS 130 involves creating a itinerary computerrecord. As flights are booked for different carriers, the system sends amessage with the flight information to the airline's computers. Theitinerary computer is used to generate tickets and store itineraries.

In accordance with the present invention, a user inputs travelparameters to the presentation program 108 on the user computer 100,which parameters are sent to the travel system 114 on the travelcomputer 120 for processing. The user may use a graphical user interface(GUI) to interface with the user computer 100, enter travel parametersand view travel information. These travel parameters include adestination, such as both the location of a meeting and the time of themeeting, and the user's origination site. Additionally, the user mayinput other parameters, such as an origination airport, originationcity, destination city, destination airport, required arrival date andtime, duration of visit, or required return time or date. For example,the user may indicate that he wishes to arrive at 123 Main St., New Yorkat three o'clock in the afternoon and that he is leaving fromWashington, D.C. The user may also designate additional preferences,such as leaving from National Airport and arriving in LaGuardia Airportin New York. A user's profile may also be maintained in the memory 112or an external storage system accessible by the travel computer 120 orthe user computer 100 which includes travel preferences, such aspreferred seats, airports, airlines, airplanes, modes of groundtransportation such as rental cars, price range, or a seat class. Afterinputting the various parameters, the travel system generates anitinerary that ensures the user will arrive at the destination site ontime in the manner he prefers.

A process consistent with one implementation of the present inventionwill now be described in connection with FIGS. 2 8. The process stepsmay be performed in many different orders, only one of which isillustrated. FIG. 2 a depicts a flowchart of the general steps of thetravel system 114 of one embodiment of the present invention. First, thetravel system 114 receives travel parameters from the user of the usercomputer 100 via the presentation program 108 (step 200). FIG. 2 b showsan example initial screen displayed by the presentation program 108 tothe user. Using this screen, the user may enter destination informationsuch as an address, city, state, and time of appointment. Afterreceiving the parameters, travel system 114 invokes the airtransportation subsystem 116 to select flights or flights and prices(step 210). Travel system 114 then determines whether an overnight stayis necessary by determining whether the departure and return dates arethe same (step 220). If different, the hotel subsystem 118 is invoked toselect a hotel (step 230). The travel system 114 then determines whetherit has received an indication from the presentation program of whetherthe user wants activity and restaurant information (step 235). If theuser requests activity and restaurant information, the travel system 114invokes the activity and restaurant subsystem 122 to find restaurantsand activities in the vicinity of the selected hotel or the destinationsite (step 240). After invoking the activity and restaurant subsystem122 (step 240), or if the user does not want activity and restaurantinformation (step 235), travel system 114 invokes the groundtransportation subsystem 124, which allows the user to select groundtransportation such as cars (step 250). Finally, travel system 114invokes the reservation confirmation system 128 allowing the user toverify travel selections and confirm reservations with the providers(step 260).

FIG. 3 a shows more detailed steps of the air transportation subsystem116 according to one embodiment of the present invention. First, the airtransportation subsystem (ATS) 116 receives the user's travel parametersfrom the travel system 114 (step 300). Then ATS 116 identifies thedestination airport closest to the destination, if the closest airportwas not provided by the user (step 305). Based on the identifieddestination airport and the destination site, ATS 116 refers to data intravel database 140 to determine a distance between the destinationairport and the destination site (step 310).

ATS 116 determines what ground transportation alternatives are availableat the destination airport by referring to travel database 140 (step320). ATS 116 determines the minimum and maximum ground travel time fromthe destination airport to the destination based on the distance betweenthe airport and the destination, the modes of transportation available,the time of day of the travel, taking into account possible flightdelays (step 330).

Based on the user's preferred arrival time at the destination andknowing the minimum and maximum time for ground travel between thedestination airport and the destination, ATS 116 can calculate a flightarrival time at the destination airport. ATS 116 then searches traveldatabase 140 for flights from the origination airport to the destinationairport that arrive at the flight arrival time to find flightalternatives available to the user and sends this information to thepresentation program for display to the user (step 340). Thepresentation programs also display seat alternatives for the availableflights.

After displaying this information, the user may select a preferredflight and seat, and the presentation program sends these selections toATS 116 (step 350). ATS 116 searches for return flight alternatives andsends data reflecting the same to the presentation program 108 (step360). The presentation program 108 displays this information to theuser, who may then pick a preferred return flight which is reported toATS 116 (step 370) and select a seat which is reported to ATS 116 (step375). Step 360 may be skipped if the user is not returning to theorigination location. In addition the return flight search may bereplaced by a next destination flight search if the user is moving on toanother location.

FIGS. 3 b 3 c show example screen displays presented on display 106 bypresentation program 108. FIG. 3 b shows a screen display with a map ofthe location of the destination and location of the destination airport.FIG. 3 b also shows available flights and their times and prices fromthe origination city to the destination city. FIG. 3 c shows a pictureof the plane so that the user may select a seat.

Referring again to FIG. 3 a, if the user has not found a suitableflight, the user may indicate to run the constraint relaxation subsystem(CR) 126 (step 377). If the user so indicates, ATS 116 runs the CR 126subsystem to allow the user to consider alternative flights and toselect one (step 380). After selecting a flight in either step 350 orstep 370, ATS 116 will select or book selected flights using CR 126(step 390) and will update an itinerary that is maintained with all thechoices made by the user (step 395).

FIG. 4 a is a flow chart of the steps performed by the hotel subsystem118 (HS). HS 118 recommends hotels based on their proximity to thedestination and any other parameters either set by the user or held in auser profile (step 400). HS 118 sends presentation program 108 a map fordisplay that shows the location of the hotel (step 410). Geographicdatabases are commonly available that show streets and other landmarks.Also included in the display data is other information available in thedatabase 140 about the hotel including hotel amenities (step 420). FIG.4 b shows a map including the location of the selected hotel relative tothe location of the destination (i.e., the marker for “YourAppointment”), and information about the hotel. HS 118 receives datafrom presentation program 108 indicating whether the user has acceptedone of the recommendations or rejected all of them (step 430). The usermay accept one of the recommendations or reject all the recommendations.If the user does not accept any of the recommendations, the CR 126re-executes searches using relaxed constraints and is used here to lookfor a larger range of hotels (step 440) and processing continues withstep 400. If HS 118 determines that the user selected a hotel, then HS118 reserves the hotel using CRS 130 (step 450) and the itinerary isupdated (step 460).

FIG. 5 a shows the steps performed by the ground transportationsubsystem 124 (GTS) for selecting ground transportation from thedestination airport to the destination or to a selected hotel. GTS 124sends the presentation program 108 display data for displaying a mapshowing the destination airport location, a destination location and aselected hotel location (step 500). The display shown in FIG. 4 bincludes such an example map display. The user may select one of severaldifferent types of transportation. The order in which the user ispresented with the available modes of transportation is based on theground transportation subsystems's recommended mode and a user'spreferred mode as designated in a user travel profile. GTS 124 selects apreferred mode for a location from travel database 140. For example, ifthe user is traveling to New York City, renting a car is the leastpreferred mode of transportation. It is preferable to take publictransportation or private transportation given the lack of parking. Theuser has the option of accepting the recommendation or choosing analternative.

In FIG. 5 a, GTS 124 sends display data to presentation program 108providing the user the option of renting a car (step 510). If the userdecides to rent a car, then GTS 124 sends display data representingrental car recommendations found in travel database 140 (step 515). FIG.5 b shows an example display on display 106 by presentation program 108showing a rental car company and information about the car and allowsthe user the option of reserving it. The user may then select a rentalcar (step 516) and a reservation is made (step 518). After making thereservation, the rental car is added to the itinerary (step 519). If theuser did not select any of the displayed rental car recommendations,then GTS 124 invokes CR 126, broadening the scope of the search for therental car recommendations by relaxing any constraints such as cost(step 517).

If the user chooses public transportation, GTS 124 sends presentationprogram 108 display data asking the user if he wishes to select publictransportation (step 520), and if so, GTS 124 provides display datalisting public transportation recommendations (step 522). The user mayselect a public transportation mode (step 524) that is then added to theitinerary (step 528). Otherwise, GTS 124 invokes CR 126 relaxingconstraints in the search (step 526).

FIG. 5 c shows additional steps of the ground transportation system.After determining if the user has selected public transportation, GTS124 receives an indication from user computer 100 as to whether the userselects private transportation (step 530). If so, GTS 124 sends displaydata to presentation program 108 of available private transportation(step 532). The user may select one of the available privatetransportations using input device 105 (step 534) and if found to bereservable by GTS 124 (step 537) a reservation is made by GTS 124 (step538). GTS 124 adds the transportation to the itinerary (step 539). If itis not reservable, then it is merely added to the itinerary (step 539).If the user did not select any of the modes of transportation, then GTS124 skips the selection of ground transportation (step 540).

In one embodiment, at any time the user changes their mind and decidesnot to pursue a transportation type, the user may enter an indication ofthe same and enter a different transportation branch.

FIG. 6 a shows the general steps for recommending restaurants andactivities around the destination by the activity and restaurantsubsystem (ARS) 122. ARS 122 refers to a database of restaurants andactivities and their addresses held within travel database 140. If auser desires to select a restaurant (step 600) then ARS 122 sendsdisplay data to presentation program 108 to display a screen depictingrestaurants by searching for geographically close restaurants to thehotel or destination and searching any other constraints entered by theuser such as the type of food, amenities, ratings in the travel database(step 610). In this step, ARS 122 sends display data to presentationprogram 108 which displays a screen like the one shown in FIG. 6B. Thisscreen depicts various restaurants and various features of therestaurants, like average meal cost, level of cleanliness, type of food,etc. The user makes various selections on this screen and the activityand restaurant subsystem performs various processing in response tothese selections.

After displaying this screen, the user may enter a selection using inputdevice 105 and presentation program reports the result to ARS 122 (step615). If the user did not select a restaurant, then ARS 122 invokes CR126 to allow the user to change any of various constraints on theselection of restaurants (step 620). Otherwise, if the user did select arestaurant and if the restaurant accepts reservations (step 625), ARS122 makes a reservation (step 630), and the restaurant is added to theitinerary (step 635).

The user may request information about events and activities. If ARS 122determines that the user requested information about events oractivities (step 640), then ARS 122 searches for events and activitiesthat meet any constraints placed by the user, such as requestingshopping or movies, and any found events and activities within adesignated distance of the hotel, airport or destination are displayed(step 650). The user may select an event or an activity (step 655) andif reservable (step 665), the ARS 122 makes a reservation (step 670) andit is added to the itinerary (step 675). If no activity or event isselected, ARS 122 invokes CR 126 allowing the user to change anyconstraints on the types of activities or locations of activities orevents (step 660). If the user does not wish to select any restaurantsor activities, then the selection of restaurants or activities isskipped and processing continues (step 680).

FIG. 7 depicts a flow chart of the steps performed by the reservationconfirmation system (RCS) 128, which allows a user to review anitinerary. Once the itinerary is complete, RCS 128 sends display data topresentation program 108 which in turn displays the itinerary for theuser to review (step 700). The user indicates using input device 105whether the itinerary is acceptable (step 710). If the itinerary is notacceptable, the user may alter the itinerary and reenter any of thedecision subsystems (step 720). If the itinerary is acceptable, RCS 128places the itinerary along with the associated restaurant, the maps andany other available information in a trip portfolio for printing, faxingor e-mailing or delivering to the user using any means desired by theuser (step 730).

FIG. 8 a depicts a flow chart of the steps performed by CR 126. CR 126reviews a database query and allows the constraints in the query to bechanged or automatically changes the constraints. If constraints in thequery were continuous (step 800), such as a distance or time, then CR126, either automatically or with user's input adjusts the constraint.For example, if the query is to find a restaurant with the constraint ofbeing within 5 miles of a given hotel, the distance constraint mayautomatically be adjusted to 15 miles and the query rerun and the newresults displayed on display 106 by presentation program 108 (step 810).If the previous constraints were discrete (step 820), such as food type,then the discrete constraint is changed by requesting a new entry fromthe user or using a default entry. For example, if the search is forrestaurant with the food type of Italian, the constraint may be changedto American, and the query rerun and results displayed (step 830). Ifthere were both discrete and continuous constraints in the last querysearch (step 840), then both may be relaxed separately as discussedabove (step 850) and the new results displayed. If the user does notwish to change any of the constraints, processing may again continue(step 860). Many different parameters may be adjusted in CR 126, such asflight times, airports, flight fares, airlines, or seat class.

FIGS. 8 b 8 d show example screen displays of data displayed on display106 by presentation program 108 based on display data sent by CR 126.FIG. 8 b shows an example screen display of an itinerary and criteriathat may be adjusted. FIG. 8 c includes additional criteria for the userto adjust by indicating a degree of flexibility. FIG. 8 d shows anexample screen display with the original itinerary and alternativeitineraries based on the relaxed constraints.

There are many variations that may be made in accordance with thepresent invention. For example, the system could allow the user to entermany different types of criteria. The system may accept input in adifferent order, for example if the return date is of importance theuser return flight may be selected before departure flight.

The example implementations above specifically mention air travel,however, the present invention may be used in conjunction with any typeof travel including trains and buses. Similarly all references toairport may alternatively be any transportation terminal.

The foregoing description of an implementation of the invention ispresented for purposes of illustration and description. It is notexhaustive and does not limit the invention to the precise formdisclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of theabove teachings or may be acquired from practicing the invention. Forexample, the described implementation includes software, but the presentinvention may be implemented as a combination of hardware and softwareor on hardware alone. The scope of the invention is defined by theclaims and their equivalents.

1. A system for processing travel requests, comprising: a processorconfigured to receive a travel request including a first plurality ofconstraints, determine one or more original travel options from aplurality of available travel options based on the first plurality ofconstraints such that the one or more original travel options conformthereto, and provide the one or more original travel options to a userin response to the travel request, wherein the processor is configuredto receive an indication reflecting that none of the one or moreoriginal travel options were selected by the user, and in responsethereto, determine one or more alternate travel options that aredifferent from the one or more original travel options, the processorbeing configured to determine the one or more alternate travel optionsfrom the plurality of available travel options based on a secondplurality of constraints such that the one or more alternate traveloptions conform thereto, and wherein the processor is configured todetermine one or more of the second plurality of constraints, therespective one or more of the second plurality of constraints beingrelaxed relative to a corresponding one or more of the first pluralityof constraints such that a greater number of the plurality of availabletravel options conform to the respective one or more of the secondplurality of constraints than conform to the corresponding one or moreof the first plurality of constraints.
 2. A system according to claim 1,wherein the one or more original travel options and one or morealternate travel options include one or more hotels.
 3. A systemaccording to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to determinethe one or more original travel options further based on a profile oftravel preferences such that the one or more original travel optionsfurther conform thereto.
 4. A system for processing travel requests,comprising: a processor configured to receive a request from a user thatincludes a first plurality of constraints, determine one or moreoriginal transportation options from a plurality of availabletransportation options based on the first plurality of constraints suchthat the one or more original transportation options conform thereto,and provide the one or more original transportation options to the userin response to the request, wherein the processor is configured toreceive an indication reflecting that none of the one or more originaltransportation options were selected by the user, and in responsethereto, determine one or more alternate transportation options that aredifferent from the one or more original transportation options, theprocessor being configured to determine the one or more alternatetransportation options from the plurality of available transportationoptions based on a second plurality of constraints such that the one ormore alternate transportation options conform thereto, and wherein theprocessor is configured to determine one or more of the second pluralityof constraints, the respective one or more of the second plurality ofconstraints being relaxed relative to a corresponding one or more of thefirst plurality of constraints such that a greater number of theplurality of available transportation options conform to the respectiveone or more of the second plurality of constraints than conform to thecorresponding one or more of the first plurality of constraints.
 5. Asystem according to claim 4, wherein the travel request includes anorigin and a destination, and wherein the one or more originaltransportation options include one or more transportation options fromthe origin to an intermediate location different from the destination.6. A system according to claim 4, wherein the travel request includes anorigin and a destination, and wherein the one or more originaltransportation options include one or more modes of groundtransportation between an intermediate location and the destination, theintermediate location being different from the origin.
 7. A systemaccording to claim 6, wherein the first plurality of constraints towhich the one or more original travel options conform includes a traveltime from the intermediate location to the destination.
 8. A systemaccording to claim 7, wherein the first plurality of constraints towhich the one or more original travel options conform includes a time ofarrival at the intermediate location sufficient to ensure arrival at thedestination by a desired arrival time.
 9. A non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium for processing travel requests, thecomputer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program codeportions stored therein, the computer-readable program portionscomprising: a first executable portion configured to receive a travelrequest including a first plurality of constraints; a second executableportion configured to determine one or more original travel options froma plurality of available travel options based on the first plurality ofconstraints such that the one or more original travel options conformthereto; a third executable portion configured to determine one or morealternate travel options in response to an indication that none of theone or more original travel options were selected by the user, the oneor more alternate travel options being different from the one or moreoriginal travel options, the third executable portion being configuredto determine the one or more alternate travel options from the pluralityof available travel options based on a second plurality of constraintssuch that the one or more alternate travel options conform thereto; anda fourth executable portion configured to determine one or more of thesecond plurality of constraints, the respective one or more of thesecond plurality of constraints being relaxed relative to acorresponding one or more of the first plurality of constraints suchthat a greater number of the plurality of available travel optionsconform to the respective one or more of the second plurality ofconstraints than conform to the corresponding one or more of the firstplurality of constraints.
 10. A non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium according to claim 9, wherein the one or more travel originaloptions and one or more alternate travel options include one or morehotels.
 11. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium accordingto claim 9, wherein the one or more travel original options and one ormore alternate travel options include one or more transportationoptions.
 12. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium accordingto claim 11, wherein the travel request includes an origin and adestination, and wherein the one or more original travel options includeone or more transportation options from the origin to an intermediatelocation different from the destination.
 13. A non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium according to claim 11, wherein thetravel request includes an origin and a destination, and wherein the oneor more original travel options include one or more modes of groundtransportation between an intermediate location and the destination, theintermediate location being different from the origin.
 14. Anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 13,wherein the first plurality of constraints to which the one or moreoriginal travel options conform includes a travel time from theintermediate location to the destination.
 15. A non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium according to claim 14, wherein thefirst plurality of constraints to which the one or more original traveloptions conform includes a time of arrival at the intermediate locationsufficient to ensure arrival at the destination by a desired arrivaltime.
 16. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according toclaim 9, wherein the second executable portion is configured todetermine the one or more original travel options further based on aprofile of travel preferences such that the one or more original traveloptions further conform thereto.